


Letters We Almost Didn't Send

by Rana_Writes



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Bolin/Opal (mentioned) - Freeform, But they'll get there in the end, F/F, Kai/Jinora (mentioned), Lin Beifong (mentioned) - Freeform, Love Letters, Mako (Avatar) (mentioned), Mutual Pining, Prince Wu (mentioned) - Freeform, These two are bad at expressing themselves, Zhu Li/Varrick (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 14:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 5,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30040374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rana_Writes/pseuds/Rana_Writes
Summary: For the Korrasami-Valantine Exchange I got Pining A. The art I was paired with was these two beautiful dorks blushing at the letters they send each other. I absolutely agree that these two spend as much time sending letters to each other when they're apart as possible. When they manage to find the right words that is. Chapters are short but I hope you enjoy.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Kudos: 14





	1. Korra One

It always sounded so simple, “just write the letter Korra. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Night after night Korra would stare at the blank page before her, hoping the words would somehow appear. It shouldn’t be that hard. She was the Avatar, she had reunited the physical and spiritual realms, she had faced countless enemies, she had dealt with a sleep-deprived Tenzin first thing in the morning. She could write one letter.

**Asami,**

**I miss you. I miss your smile and your laugh and the way you always seem to know what I’m thinking. I miss the way your hair flows behind you when you’re driving us around Republic City. I miss how you always manage to figure out the solution to every problem I can’t fight my way through.**

**I keep wondering what you would say if you were here, what you would do. Would you think I was doing the right thing or would you yell at me for being too reckless? Are you missing me the way I miss you?**

**There are so many things I wish I could say to you. I just want you to know that I-**

The letter, the first of many, found its place relegated to the bottom of a drawer, unfinished and unsent.


	2. Asami One

Writing letters wasn’t a foreign concept to Asami. She wrote letters all the time. To business partners, to potential investors and to employees. But this letter was different. This letter was to Korra. It had to be perfect!

Writing letters had always been so easy before. Something simple. She knew the right words to use, the right length of each sentence. She knew how to begin each letter and how to sign her name perfectly at the end. Today she knew nothing. But Asami had never backed down from a challenge before. She had built her company back up from the bottom. She could do this.

_Dear Korra,_

_How have you been? How’s your latest mission going? I hope you’re enjoying yourself and keeping safe. I’d be heartbroken if anything happened to you._

_Things have been quiet here. Business is going well and I’ve got so many new ideas. It really is quiet here without you. Every time something funny happens I find myself looking to my side expecting you to be there to laugh with me. Every time I’m not sure what to do I wish you were here to talk to._

_I know your Avatar work is important but sometimes I wish I could keep you to myself, that we could go back to the spirit world and ignore all the troubles here. Just you and me and- that sounds selfish I know, but I can’t help but wish that you and I would never have to be apart, not for one moment and-_

The words wouldn’t come easily no matter how Asami tried, nothing seemed to sound right. She wished Korra were here. She’d know what Asami was trying to say.


	3. Korra Two

Okay, so maybe writing a letter was harder than Korra had first thought. She just couldn’t make her words flow the way Asami did. Asami was amazing with words. She had tried to write letters like Asami; really, she had. She just couldn’t seem to make it flow as well as Asami always did. Besides, it would be pretty weird to send Asami a letter that looked like it had been written by herself.

It was just a letter. She could do this. Korra was the Avatar and this, this should be easy.

**Asami,**

**How’re things in Republic City? Anyone giving you any trouble? Because, you know, if they were, I’d be back to sort them out in no time.**

**Things are pretty interesting right now, the Earth Kingdom still has plenty of villages that are struggling after Kuvira but they’re getting better. We’ve been helping a lot of them rebuild and making sure the ones who were in her “re-education camps” are settled back home. Every time I see a family reuniting or finish helping to rebuild a shop that had been destroyed, I can’t help but feel… guilty.**

**I know what you’d say. How it wasn’t my fault and I needed to give myself time to get better and I understand that, really, I do. I just can’t help it. If I had been here maybe none of this would have happened. And I know we’ve had this conversation before, I’m working on it. I just wish none of this had happened.**

Korra let out a growl as she slumped in her chair, her head meeting the desk she had been writing on. Why couldn’t she get this right?


	4. Asami Two

So maybe the problem was that Asami was writing the letter too much like she would write a letter from Sato Industries. She should be writing it just as Asami. Maybe if she just let the words flow as if she were having a normal conversation it would feel right. That would work, wouldn’t it?

It was times like this she found herself wishing she wasn’t head of a company, that she could just drop everything and go with Korra wherever her Avatar duties took her. But Asami was head of a company, she had designed and built the roads of Republic City. She was responsible for so much of what had allowed the city to prosper in tandem with the spirits. She had a duty to help. She had a duty to rebuild what had been destroyed by the Earth Empire. Even if not all that was lost could be returned, Asami would do her best to rebuild and she would do her best to write this letter.

_Dear Korra,_

_I miss you. When you came back after your recovery everything felt right again. Part of me wished that you would never go away again. I knew that wasn’t realistic. That someday your Avatar duties would call you away. That even though I wished I could be by your side always there would come times when we would both have other responsibilities._

_Still, every moment you’re gone reminds me of the last time you went away. It reminds me of how frightened I was for you and how much I wished I could make everything right again. I missed you every day back then and I miss you every day now. I miss the old days when we were always together. Everything changes and even though I wish that had never changed there are so many other things I’m grateful for changing. Us for one thing._

_It’s odd how you can be so far away and I can miss you so much, yet still feel closer to you than ever before. I miss you, come home soon-_

How do you put all your feeling into one letter? How do you say everything you want to say, everything you need to say? Asami wish she knew. She wished she could make it perfect. She pushed her hair back from her face and sighed, this was much harder than she thought.


	5. Korra Three

Kick, punch, punch, duck, back kick. Start again.

“Focus on the punching bag,” Korra breathed, “focus on your movement.”

Maybe if she could clear her mind, she would find it easier to write. The letter had to be perfect. It had to tell Asami everything Korra needed her to hear. It had to share every moment she wasn’t able to share with her and let her know that Korra wanted to know about every moment she wasn’t there. It had to let her know just how important she was, how missed she was, how much better things would be if they were together. It had to tell Asami all of Korra’s feelings. And it had to be perfect!

It was a lot of pressure for one piece of paper. What if it got crumpled or the ink got smudged or Korra didn’t write the right words down?

“EEEUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!” Korra roared as her spinning kick took the bag off its hinges, sending it crashing to the floor. So, it seemed that training wasn’t going to help her. One thing was certain to her at least, the perfect letter wouldn’t write itself.

**Asami,**

**I’m going crazy here. Every time I sit down to write to you, I lose all ability to put two words together. I can channel spirit energy, and use all elements. I can take down Amon and the Red Lotus and Kuvira. I can reunite the realms and reunite with Raava. But somehow, I can’t find the words to tell you what you mean to me.**

**I can never seem to figure out how to let you know just how important you are to me. How I’d be lost without you. And I want to write this letter, I want it to be perfect. The letters you sent me whilst I was recovering were so important to me. I don’t know if you understand just how important they were. Your letters kept me sane. They gave me something to hold on to, something to keep fighting for.**

**I want to give that to you. That feeling of being important and cherished and wanted. I want you to read this letter and never want to put it down. I want it to be so perfect that you read it over and over again and feel as amazing as you did the first time you read it. The way your letters felt so amazing to me. The way I could read them over and over, how every night I’d sit up taking in every word and still feel as cherished as I did the first time I opened them. When I read the words you’d written and wished I could say the same to you. Wished I could somehow write down just how important you are to me and how much I missed you.**

**But words never seem to be able to show just how much I care- how lost I’d be- how important you are- how-**

Korra had only one thought as yet another unfinished letter joined the now growing pile, “this was getting ridiculous.”


	6. Asami Three

The factory was doing well, productivity was up and workers seemed much happier as every day passed. Asami wondered if it was relief at surviving the attack on Republic City, joy at still having a job or something else. She should be happy either way, she should be thrilled that her business was still doing so well. She was happy about that, but the nagging feeling of annoyance wouldn’t leave her alone. Annoyance that she couldn’t write one simple letter. Annoyance that nothing sounded right to her. Annoyance that she couldn’t find the words.

Deep breaths weren’t working, throwing herself into her work weren’t working, even Varrick’s latest scheme wasn’t enough of a distraction to pull her away from the constant anguish she felt at not being able to write one simple letter to the most important person in her life.

She just had to stick with it. She’d had failures and setbacks in business before and she’d managed to overcome them. She’d failed to write this letter before and she would overcome that too. Third time’s the charm… right?

_Dear Korra,_

_Work has been good but… dull. Maybe that isn’t the right word. The work isn’t necessarily dull itself, it’s just that everything seems dull without you. It’s dim and flat. With you, everything feels bright and alive._

_Lin has been a huge help in fixing up Republic City, keeping civilians back with her metal-benders and providing much needed support for some of the foundations. I think she’s getting annoyed at me though that may just be Lin being Lin. She called me mopey the other day. Maybe I am mopey. I miss you. You must know that. Thing’s just aren’t the same without you._

_You’d be a huge help if you were here. Both with the reconstruction and with keeping me sane. If I have to listen to another of Varrick’s insane ideas I may just go crazy myself. Luckily, Zhu Li is keeping him in line but that still leaves a lot of room for insanity when it comes to him._

_I don’t really want to talk to you about work. I just want to talk to you. I miss you Korra. I miss you so much-_

Why was this so hard?


	7. Korra Four

Earth-benders and metal-benders working together to fix structures and rebuild villages might have sounded odd. They’d been on opposing sides of the war with the Earth Empire and their elements were natural opposites. Yet here they were, working side by side in harmony. Spirits in the sky and in the ground, pushing and pulling, ebbing and flowing, making something greater than what came before. It was a beautiful sight. It brought a sense of peace to all around, Korra included. Watching them, she felt like she wasn’t doing too bad at this whole Avatar thing.

The work was hard and seemingly never-ending. But with each new building, with each reunion, with each village and town being restored to its rightful leaders and people, Korra found purpose and joy. If only other aspects of her life were as rewarding. Asami was everything. Telling her shouldn’t be harder than rebuilding an entire Kingdom. It shouldn’t be harder than restoring a nation. So why did it feel that way?

Why could she do all of that but not find the words to tell the woman who meant everything to her just that. That she was everything. Maybe that was what had been missing.

**Asami,**

**Things are going well here. We’re making good time and things really do seem to be improving. I still think we could do with your expertise though. You’d make it all go so much smoother. Or maybe you’d just make it go so much smoother for me.**

**Every moment I’m thinking about you. About everything we’ve been through. About our past and our future. Because I want us to have a future. Together. I can’t imagine any life for me that doesn’t have you in it.**

**You know that, right? How everything is better for me when I’m with you. How when I look to the future it’s not my duty I see anymore. It’s you. Every step forward we take I don’t see as a step towards finishing this rebuild, but as a step closer to seeing you again.**

**You’re everything Asami. You’re the warm breeze through the trees. You’re the crash of a wave against the shore. You’re the soft grass sprouting through the broken ground. You’re the warmth of a camp fire on a cold night. You’re the first person on my mind every day and the only one I want to hold my hand. You’re so much that I can never find the words to tell you. You’re the moon and the sun, the ocean and the land, the warmth and the cold. You’re my everything Asami. You’re-**

How do you tell someone how important they are to you? How do you know what to say? How to you find a way to tell someone as amazing as Asami Sato that you’d be lost without them? Korra didn’t know.


	8. Asami Four

Okay, so writing this letter was harder than she thought it would be. No problem. After all, Asami had never backed down from a challenge just because it was a little difficult… Make that a lot difficult. It was just so hard. She was just one woman and Korra was… Korra. She’d done so much, saved so many people. How could you tell someone that incredible how much they meant to you? How could you possibly know the right words? Words that wouldn’t sound trite or overused. Words that would express her importance, not as the Avatar, but as a woman. A woman who drove Asami to distraction. A woman she couldn’t stop thinking about.

She didn’t want this letter to be like another Sato-mobile off the construction line. She wanted it to be new and exciting and full of the meaning she still couldn’t find the words for. She wanted it to be sincere from her heart. She didn’t want Korra to be disappointed in it.

Writing letters while Korra had been recovering had been so much easier. They’d flowed with everything she felt but didn’t know how to say. Writing them had kept her sane. They’d kept her hopeful. She hadn’t known for sure when Korra would return but sending letters had let her feel like it would be soon. That if she just kept sending them, one day she’d get word that Korra was returning to Republic City, to her.

Now, so much had happened. So much had changed. They were finally together the way she had dreamed and somehow that made this harder. Writing letters to her hurt friend had been easy. Writing letters to the woman who had become her girlfriend was so much harder.

_Dear Korra,_

_Did I ever tell you how much I missed you when you were away? I’m sure I did but did you understand. It felt like my heart had been ripped out. That you had taken it with you, I didn’t mind that part so much. It meant that it would be safe and maybe, just maybe, it would help heal you too._

_That sounds crazy I know. But I hoped you knew, that even if I couldn’t be with you, my heart would be. Every day when you were gone would drag and all I could think of was getting home in the evening so that I could write to you. So that I could tell you everything that was happening and it would feel like somehow you were still with me. You were all I could think about. I would get home and write everything I had wanted to tell you throughout the day. Like even if you weren’t with me, your heart was, just like mine was with you._

_It feels that way now. You’re so far away and you feel so close. Like even if you aren’t by my side, you’re still in my heart. I wish you were by my side though. Or that I was by yours. Maybe one day we’ll have a moment without any zealots or cities to rebuild. Where we can just relax together and not worry about our jobs or duties or anything but each other. Like our time in the spirit world. I have a map in my office and every time I miss you, I pick a spot and make a plan. Places we could go and things we could do. By this point we’ve been everywhere in my mind._

_I used to wish I had come with you to the South Pole. I know why I couldn’t and I’m proud of everything I did in that time. I still wished I had been with you. Now I wish I could have gone with you to rebuild. I know I’m needed here. That my priority has to be restoring everything that Kuvira’s giant mecha destroyed. Still, I wish I was with you. I miss you every day, it’s like last time you were gone but different. It feels so much- It feels so- It’s more-_

Asami would find the words. She had before. She would again. Just not right now.


	9. Korra Five

There’s something decidedly unfair about being surrounded by couples when your own girlfriend is far away. Korra was happy for her friends. Really. She was. She Is. Happy for them. Very happy… And jealous. Really very jealous. She wanted to take Asami on a flying Byson and show her the world from above. She wanted to have a picnic under the shade of a tree and watch Asami giggle and blush. She wanted to stroll down the street hand in hand with Asami and show everyone how she was the luckiest woman in the world to have the beautiful woman beside her choose to be with her. Even Kai and Jinora got to go on dates.

Okay, so maybe Korra was more jealous of them than she was happy for them. But really, nobody could blame her. It had been so long since she’d seen Asami, held her hand, kissed her. It felt like forever. She didn’t have Asami with her. All she had was paper, ink and a headache forming as she tried in vain to get the words down. This was harder than learning how to air-bend.

**Asami,**

**How are things there? Things here are good. I wish you were here. Opal and Bolin really are cute together but every time I see them being a couple, I miss you even more. I keep thinking of all the things we could do if you were here.**

**In the last village there was this tree next to this little gazebo… it reminded me of the one you always used to find me in on Air Temple Island. I’d sit in there and I could almost hear you walking up to me. I kept expecting to turn around and see you with a cup of tea and a smile. I planned a whole picnic, what we’d have, when we’d go, how we’d avoid Bolin trying to turn it into a double date. I thought we could go in the evening, when the sun starts to set. I know you’d have loved how beautiful that little village looked at sunset. I’d have loved to see you. All I could imagine in the setting sun on your face, in your hair. The way you smile and blush when you catch me staring at you.**

**Or this town we were in a while back. They had this little repair shop. The guy in there was taking apart old junk to try and make some new… well I don’t remember what he called it but I know you’d be interested. I wrote down the name of the town and the shop so maybe after I get back, we can go and look together. You’re so smart I know you’d be able to help.**

**Or that place with the amazing noodles. I’m definitely going to have to take you there sometime soon. Best noodles outside of Republic City I swear. The dumplings weren’t half bad either. Boling and I added it to our list, pretty high up too, soon we’ll have rated every noodle shop in the Earth Kingdom. Still, I wished it was you with me instead of Bolin. I don’t think he noticed though, he was too giddy over him and Opal being back together. I’m glad he’s so happy. Even if I do wish I was the one whose girlfriend had come long instead of him.**

**Do you ever think of all the places we could go after this is done? I do. I have all these plans that I want to share with you. I hope you like them. I hope you want to visit all the places I want to visit with me. I hope-**

“I hope I figure out what to write.”


	10. Asami Five

Asami was dealing with a wild card more often than she’d like lately. A wild card named Varrick. He was brilliant sure but his ideas were crazy. Normally, his constant schemes would be an unwelcome distraction. Nowadays they’d have been a welcome one. But Varrick was busy with his wife. It really wasn’t fair that Varrick got to spend all his time with his wife and Asami hadn’t seen her girlfriend for so long. Mako was always with Prince Wu and even her assistant was on a date. Not that she had a problem with that. Her assistant was a lovely woman and a huge help and Asami was glad she had someone. She was just also… jealous. She wanted to go home and have a meal with her girlfriend. She wanted to cuddle up with Korra by the fire and listen to the radio together. She wanted to always be at her side every chance she got.

Instead, here she was, in her office, alone. Everyone else had gone home, the sun had set and the moon was out and Asami Sato had not moved an inch. She had sat for hours staring at the blank paper before her, daydreaming about Korra. If she were here now Asami would plan a date. The perfect date. She could never quite decide what they would do. It changed from daydream to daydream. But still it was perfect. Why? Because it would be with Korra. Now all she needed was for Korra to come back so they could have that perfect date. First though, she needed to figure out what to write so she could send her this letter.

_Dear Korra,_

_It’s a full moon tonight. Do you remember that gala we snuck out of? We stood on the balcony and stared at the moon; it was full that night too. We kissed. It was perfect. You were perfect. You are perfect. I look at the moon tonight and I miss you even more. I wish every night could be like that gala. The two of us together, under moonlight. It shone in your eyes that night. You looked beautiful in moonlight, the way it made your hair shine, the way you smiled at me. The way you blushed._

_I’ve been feeling lonely. Not that I’m alone, it’s just, I feel lonely without you. I want the simple things. The things everyone seems to take for granted: a meal together; a midnight stroll; a lazy day in. I can do all of those things now but they have no appeal. I don’t want to do them alone. I want to do them with you._

_I keep making plans. All the places I want to take you and all the things we can do together. There’s so much and none of it really matters. All that matters is you. All that matters is that we’re together again. Once you come back, I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you go again. I’m going to have to hire someone to look after the company when I’m away soon because I don’t want another adventure without you. I want to be by your side through everything. Every trial and triumph. I want to be there. Do you want me there?_

_I think about you all the time and I want things to be normal. Or at least as normal as they ever are for us. But truthfully, things could be crazy. They could be wild and unpredictable or boring and unchanging. None of it matters, not as long as I’m with you. When you get back I want-_

“I want to figure out the right words to tell you how I feel.”


	11. Korra Six

Words were hard. Words had never been Korra’s strong suit. She had always been better at tackling problems head on. Punching a guy was easier than telling a woman that she… well that she cared. Especially when that woman was Asami. It shouldn’t be. She knew that. It was hard, it was maybe the hardest thing she’d ever done. But it was worth it. Asami was worth it.

**Asami,**

**Everything about you is the reason you mean everything to me. There are no words that could ever explain truly what you mean to me. How important you are. How you make everything better. When you’re happy, I’m happy. When you’re sad, I’m sad. I want to be by your side every second of every day and I want you by mine always.**

**We’ve been through so much. It should be easier to tell you what you mean to me but the words never come as easily as I want them to. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out what the right words are. But are there any right words? Are there really any words that could tell you everything I feel. No matter how hard I try there is nothing in this realm or even in the spirit realm that seems to sum up you. Because there are no words to sum up you. Asami Sato. That’s it. You. Just you. That’s all I need; all I’ve ever needed. Everything else sounds hollow and unimportant because everything else isn’t you.**

**I need to find the right words. I need to figure out what to say. I know what you mean to me. I know how I feel and- I know. I know what I need to say.**

No words would express how Korra felt. At least not any of the words she had already written. Asami would know that. She knew Korra better than anyone. Korra collected the unsent letters. A collection of thoughts and feeling that culminated in the final message, the one she had always known but never managed to verbalise.

Tying the letters in a bundle to send to Asami, to show her how she had figured out what to say, Korra sat down to write one last letter. The only one that mattered.


	12. Asami Six

Words were easy. Words had always been Asami’s strong suit. She could tackle problems with diplomacy in her sleep. Negotiating a trade deal was easier than showing a woman that she… well that she cared. Especially when that woman was Korra. It shouldn’t be. She knew that. It was hard, it was maybe the hardest thing she’d ever done. But it was worth it. Korra was worth it.

_Dear Korra,_

_You are everything to me. When you hurt, I hurt. When you rise, so do I. There is nothing I could ever say that would tell you everything you mean to me. I want us to be together, always. To never be apart._

_Everything we’ve been through has only brought us closer. But somehow, I still can’t find the right words. I doubt there are any words that would accurately explain how you make me feel. Nothing I’ve experienced before has ever brought me anywhere near how I feel with you. You’re the Avatar. You’re the one who reunited the realms. But most importantly. You’re Korra. That’s all you’ve ever needed to be. There is nothing greater than that, than just being you. Korra._

_I know the words are out there somewhere. I just need to find them. I just- I know that I- I’ve always known that- I know what I need to say._

There were never going to be enough words to express Asami’s feelings. Not in any of her previous letters. Korra knew her and she needed to know this too. They’d been on a journey to this point together. But this, this was Asami’s own journey. A journey to find the words to say how important Korra was to her.

She would send them all. Every letter she had already written. She wanted Korra to know how much she had been thinking of her when she sent the final letter. The only one that mattered.


	13. Korra/Asami Seven

**Asami,**

_Dear Korra,_

**I love you.**

_I love you._

**Always,**

_Yours,_

**Korra**

_Asami_


End file.
